Adventists require top faculty, trustees to be church members

Some fear harm to academic standing

Oct 31, 2006

In a move that internal critics say will hurt academic standing, leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church have voted to require all tenured faculty and board members at its educational institutions to be members of the denomination.

The decision was announced October 11 during an Annual Council meeting at Adventist world headquarters at Silver Spring, Maryland.

Despite its sectarian beginnings in the 19th century, the denomination is known for its medical and humanitarian missions and major educational institutions such as Loma Linda University in California. Partly because of their adherence to a Saturday observance of the Sabbath, the Adventists have been advocates for the separation of church and state along with mainline Protestant bodies and Jewish agencies.